GR40SS or Peice meal?

[GR40Freak]

Its amazing how those that don't know are experts , even though most of them have never driven a Griggs GR40 equipped car.

Its not really that. I'm not pushing one thing or another, hell I don't even work at GR anymore. Most if not all things can be solved with the SEARCH button.

That and.. An autocross car, road race car, drift car and "streetable" version of ANY combination of those things all require very different setups.

Get on the internet and ask for opinions from 100 different people and you'll probably end up with 100 different opinions, with 99% being redundant or wrong.
Buy this, buy that.

You want to learn something... Go to the venue of choice and talk to the guy that wins all the time.

Colin

 

[Dreadknought]

You know Colin, thats an excelent idea. I was just hoping someone here would have first hand experience with the SS kit. I'll contact some one at ASD and MDS and see what they have to say on the matter. Though at this point I think I am just going to go with the second option seeing as I get more "street" bang for the buck.

 

[Germeezy3]

If I could give him a positive rep I would, what he said was spot on. I can tell you from first hand experience for a street driven car the GR40 SS kit is close to perfect.

 

[John Card]

Griggs has closed their doors, so that rules that option out. You might try Maximum Motorsports if you want something simlar.

 

[Dreadknought]

WTF? Since when?

 

[John Card]

I don't know exactly when, but the doors at their shop are locked and they are moved out. What parts are still being sold, are remaining inventory being sold from home. There's a thread on it at Corner-carvers.com - http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42516&page=3

 

[Germeezy3]

Don't believe everything you read, there are some things that I can't say that lead me to believe that Griggs although experiencing technical difficulties is not going away. I can call John or Bruce personally if you have any questions, I have a few cars now waiting on GR40 kits including a 2011 GT500.

Basically a business deal was entered into that may or may not come to fruition and that is all I can say at this point until something more official is released.

 

[Ch4r1ie]

Don't believe everything you read, there are some things that I can't say that lead me to believe that Griggs although experiencing technical difficulties is not going away. I can call John or Bruce personally if you have any questions, I have a few cars now waiting on GR40 kits including a 2011 GT500.

Basically a business deal was entered into that may or may not come to fruition and that is all I can say at this point until something more official is released.

Fuck I hope that's true, my aim is/was to get the full GR40RT package soon, I ordered the brochure only a week ago!

 

[Germeezy3]

Fuck I hope that's true, my aim is/was to get the full GR40RT package soon, I ordered the brochure only a week ago!

I know a lot of the story, but again I am not at leisure to say. I sincerely believe and hope though that Griggs Racing may live to race another day!

 

[knownukes]

I know a lot of the story, but again I am not at leisure to say. I sincerely believe and hope though that Griggs Racing may live to race another day!

I JUST ordered a GRST kit and was told I will have it in 4-6 weeks. The fellow I ordered it from is a good friend, that I trust and he spoke directly to Bruce Griggs. They have had some shop issues, but they are up and running now.

I know people who have the Griggs equipment, I have driven one of their cars and the rear end is much more planted than my Eibach coilover/sway bar/adjustible panhard bar car. Yes it's expensive, but the stuff is a thing of beauty if you know machined parts and it is engineered for the s197 chassis. GR freak is right, the Griggs is the best stuff. But if you cant drive, you are not going to get around the track no matter what you have. As many of you have said, above everything and anything, TRACK TIME IS KING!!!!! I've seen guys in Mini Coopers kick GT-500 ass because they can drive.

BJ

 

[Germeezy3]

I JUST ordered a GRST kit and was told I will have it in 4-6 weeks. The fellow I ordered it from is a good friend, that I trust and he spoke directly to Bruce Griggs. They have had some shop issues, but they are up and running now.

I know people who have the Griggs equipment, I have driven one of their cars and the rear end is much more planted than my Eibach coilover/sway bar/adjustible panhard bar car. Yes it's expensive, but the stuff is a thing of beauty if you know machined parts and it is engineered for the s197 chassis. GR freak is right, the Griggs is the best stuff. But if you cant drive, you are not going to get around the track no matter what you have. As many of you have said, above everything and anything, TRACK TIME IS KING!!!!! I've seen guys in Mini Coopers kick GT-500 ass because they can drive.

BJ

The planted rear has to really be felt and experienced to really get how good the Griggs suspension is.

 

[pcdrj]

I started with the piece meal approach - Tokico's, FRPP sway bars, LCA's with relocation brackets, Steeda sport springs, Saleen Watts' link. There's really no comparison between that and the Griggs. As other have said the torque arm alone transforms the rear dynamics and the tendency to "snap" is eliminated. You're able to put power down much sooner on corner exits. Certainly there will be faster guys running panhard and 3rd link setups but that's because they're better drivers. I would expect the same driver to be faster in a Griggs car than a piece meal setup.

My $.02

 

[Germeezy3]

I started with the piece meal approach - Tokico's, FRPP sway bars, LCA's with relocation brackets, Steeda sport springs, Saleen Watts' link. There's really no comparison between that and the Griggs. As other have said the torque arm alone transforms the rear dynamics and the tendency to "snap" is eliminated. You're able to put power down much sooner on corner exits. Certainly there will be faster guys running panhard and 3rd link setups but that's because they're better drivers. I would expect the same driver to be faster in a Griggs car than a piece meal setup.

My $.02

I agree with you 100% it also dials out alot of the understeer these cars have from the factory. It oversteers under power so smoothly and even if it does come around ( been there done that) its progressive enough to be controllable. It requires almost relearning how to drive the car because the points of corner entry that power application would put you in a ditch is now a point where you can go full throttle.

 

[Dreadknought]

I agree with you 100% it also dials out alot of the understeer these cars have from the factory. It oversteers under power so smoothly and even if it does come around ( been there done that) its progressive enough to be controllable. It requires almost relearning how to drive the car because the points of corner entry that power application would put you in a ditch is now a point where you can go full throttle.

These last two are precisely the information that I have been looking for. Primary source comparisons and particular setup habits. I think I will take the approach that pcdrj took and go with the "regular" bolt ons first before I upgrade to the griggs. Hopefully I will have a better understanding of what everything will do for me.

But on that note. You spoke, I listened, and seat time was had.

Your words do not fall on deaf ears guys... That being said, I suck and need alot more practice then what I could do on my dd tires. Such a different ball game than roadracing or autocross...


Oh and the stang has SEVERE understeer and body roll. A change in my tire set up will probably be the best way to fix the first issue.

 

[Sky Render]

Your words do not fall on deaf ears guys... That being said, I suck and need alot more practice then what I could do on my dd tires. Such a different ball game than roadracing or autocross...


Oh and the stang has SEVERE understeer and body roll. A change in my tire set up will probably be the best way to fix the first issue.

Huh? I'm just now learning to autocross, and I'm using stock all-season tires. Learning to drive on stickier tires is a bad idea; the stickier rubber covers up your bad habits.

 

[Mr. Q]

^ i think his goal is drift

 

[Dreadknought]

As far as tires, I'm running 275/40 Nt05s in the rear and 255/35 sumitomos in front with only 2/3s of the contact patch actually there. So to say it scrubs is an understatement.

 

[Germeezy3]

As far as tires, I'm running 275/40 Nt05s in the rear and 255/35 sumitomos in front with only 2/3s of the contact patch actually there. So to say it scrubs is an understatement.

To some degree with a stock suspension S197 you have to learn to drive " around " the understeer. Something that is rarely said but I believe to be true is the need for a good harness. Bracing yourself in the car takes away from being able to concentrate on your inputs and what the car is doing underneath you.

Going out and learning the car and doing HPDE's and Auto-X is a great start at being able to get the most from the car and knowing what kind of handling your driving prefers. Smoother inputs, doing more braking in a straight line and not as agressive turn in are a few things you could work on as far as managing understeer.

 

[Sleeper_08]

To some degree with a stock suspension S197 you have to learn to drive " around " the understeer. Something that is rarely said but I believe to be true is the need for a good harness. Bracing yourself in the car takes away from being able to concentrate on your inputs and what the car is doing underneath you.

Going out and learning the car and doing HPDE's and Auto-X is a great start at being able to get the most from the car and knowing what kind of handling your driving prefers. Smoother inputs, doing more braking in a straight line and not as aggressive turn in are a few things you could work on as far as managing understeer.

The corner at the 1:00 and 2:30 mark is good example of where I had to learn to restrain myself. The corner is taken in second gear and my initial attempts resulted in my going in too fast and then the car just wanting to slide off the outside of the corner. Using too much throttle too soon would just cause the back end to get loose and try to come around on me. It also really chewed up the outer edge on the left front tire.

I'm now following the old adage of in slow/out fast and it is working better. With the Nitto NT01 R-comps I'm able to get the power down much sooner but still have to ease the throttle in as otherwise it spins the rear tires.

http://mustangforums.com/forum/s197...ors-nto-or-parts-store-new-2.html#post7514379

PS -chasing Porsches is fun

 

[Germeezy3]

The corner at the 1:00 and 2:30 mark is good example of where I had to learn to restrain myself. The corner is taken in second gear and my initial attempts resulted in my going in too fast and then the car just wanting to slide off the outside of the corner. Using too much throttle too soon would just cause the back end to get loose and try to come around on me. It also really chewed up the outer edge on the left front tire.

I'm now following the old adage of in slow/out fast and it is working better. With the Nitto NT01 R-comps I'm able to get the power down much sooner but still have to ease the throttle in as otherwise it spins the rear tires.

http://mustangforums.com/forum/s197...ors-nto-or-parts-store-new-2.html#post7514379

PS -chasing Porsches is fun

Porsches are the biggest example of slow in FAST out cars, they require a wholesale change to driving style to make them go fast. My C5 was setup to gradually transition to oversteer so understeer was only a prelude to oversteer.


GOOD READ for those just getting into track driving or auto xing.

http://www.auto-ware.com/setup/fc1.htm